I am not trying to bring down the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA. I am still working for the NSA right now. They are the only ones who don’t realize it. — Edward Snowden, Edward Snowden Says His Mission’s Accomplished, Washington Post, December 24, 2013. “I am the world crier, & this is my dangerous career… I am the one to call your bluff, & this is my climate.” —Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972)

Courtesy of Pure Vision Arts: In 2007, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring April 2 World Autism Awareness Day — an annual opportunity for fundraising organizations to bring public attention to a condition considered rare just a decade ago. Now society is coming to understand that the broad spectrum of autism — as it’s currently defined, which will change next year with the publication of the DSM-5 – isn’t rare after all. In fact, “autism is common,” said Thomas Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last week in a press conference. The CDC’s announcement brought out the usual range of conflicting responses and disputes about causes and cures. No matter where you stand on the rising numbers, there is one undeniably shocking thing about them. Vigil for George Hodgins, Sunnyvale CA For autistic activists like Gross and Paula C. Lydia Brown 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shannon and Leo Rosa 1. 2. 3.

Derailing for Dummies. Addiction Inbox. Too much of a good thing. Serotonin syndrome is a rare but potentially deadly condition that results from the combination of two or more serotonin-boosting drugs. Taken in sufficient quantities, the drugs can lead to a serotonin overdose. The symptoms of serotonin syndrome range from mild flushing, muscle jerks, and rapid pulse to fever, hypertension, disorientation, respiratory problems, destruction of red blood cells, seizures, and kidney failure. No one knows exactly how often it occurs, since most cases are thought to resolve without further problems within 24 hours after discontinuation of the serotonin-boosting drugs in question.

Serotonin syndrome was characterized in animal models years ago, and is probably rare enough to merit little more than a passing notice if not for the variety of serotonin-boosting drugs and medicines continually coming to market. The most dangerous combination of all is an SSRI medication taken with a strong MAO inhibitor.

Psychology Conferences Worldwide Upcoming events in psychology, psychiatry and related fields. Research on Twitter and Microblogging. Evidence Based Mummy. Child's Play. Trends in Cognitive Sciences recently published a provocative letter by a pair of MIT researchers, Ted Gibson and Ev Fedorenko, which has been causing a bit of a stir in the language camps. The letter - "Weak Quantitative Standards in Linguistic Research" and its companion article - have incited controversy for asserting that much of linguistic research into syntax is little more than - to borrow Dan Jurafsky's unmistakable phrase - a bit of "bathtub theorizing.

" (You know, you soak in your bathtub for a couple of hours, reinventing the wheel). It's a (gently) defiant piece of work: Gibson and Fedorenko are asserting that the methods typically employed in much of linguistic research are not scientific, and that if certain camps of linguists want to be taken seriously, they need to adopt more rigorous methods. I found the response, by Ray Jackendoff and Peter Culicover, a little underwhelming, to say the least. One of the more amusing lines cites William James:
Mind Hacks.